Upstart

Part bootcamp, part summer camp, our accelerators are designed to take your business from seed-stage to funding to launch, with every step in between. Here’s how.

Days 1-90

Once accepted, we’ll assist out-of-town teams in relocating to Memphis. Then the fun starts. For the next three months, you’ll work alongside elite mentors and business leaders, honing your entrepreneurial game. Seed Hatchery & Upstart founders will also get $25,000 in seed funding to kickstart your journey.

Post-Acceleration

After Demo Day, it’s back to the grindstone. Our post-accelerator programming gives you continued support through office hours and workshops focused on sales, KPI's, and ongoing fundraising. We’ll tap our contacts from across the region, all the way to our San Francisco satelite office, to provide real-time training and
feedback as you continue to scale.

And it doesn’t stop there. Once you’re a Start Co. alum, you’re part of the family. We invest in companies we want to work with long-term, so our network and resources become yours — even after the accelerator ends.

Start Co. founders come from all over the world to build their businesses.

Here are some of the results so far.

What do startups get out of the program?

Founders and alumni agree, there are a few things that make the Start Co. experience like no other:

Hands–on Support

At Start Co., you’ll build and rebuild your business and product strategy, learn to understand growth and metrics, and perfect your pitches. But you won’t have to do it alone. We’ll be in the trenches with you the whole time. Plus, you’ll have access to insight and guidance from our network of alumni and more than 100 mentors who have helped us build dozens of startups along the way.

Technical Guidence

Our technical partners – including Paypal, AutoZone, AWS, Softlayer and more — provide free infrastructure and ongoing support. But what sets them apart is a truer, deeper level of engagement with our founders and teams. Our tech partners regularly roll up their sleeves to conduct office hours, offer one-on-one mentorship, and share access to whole new networks of potential partners.

More Fishbowl, Fewer Fish

Unlike the mega-markets, there’s plenty of room to grow while getting vital support from leaders in the community. No one is off-limits or inaccessible. Start Co. is ground-zero for tech startups in Memphis, which means top-tier investors, mentors, and media opportunities pass through our doors every day. Here, you’ll spend less time trying to stand out from the crowd, and more time launching and running your business.

Three Cohorts, Zero Silos

Even though our three accelerators offer their own unique programming, we run them concurrently over the summer. That’s because we believe in diversity, density and community. Starting a company can be isolating. But working alongside peers going through the same challenges makes a huge difference. Here, surrounded by founders with different backgrounds and business verticals, you’re able to approach your startup from new angles, finding fresh solutions to old problems and uncovering perspectives you won’t find in traditional cohorts.

Memphis

Affordability is a driving factor of launching a company in Memphis. With New York City and San Francisco having 2.5X higher costs of living, your startup runway goes a lot further here. From food to music to business, few cities can match Memphis’ historical influence, but perhaps none can match our relentless work ethic, as made notable by local corporate offices such as FedEx, Holiday Inn, International Paper, Autozone and more. In a city that has moved the world in more ways than one, Start Co. startups are driven to do the same. And starting here, so can you.